The French-Girl Way to Do Pink Lipstick

If anyone can inspire a French woman to change her Breton stripes, it’s Violette.

When it comes to beauty, the French makeup artist is the master of chic, but her definition of what’s stylish—in that ever-irreverent Parisian way—is still evolving, especially across the color spectrum. “I love to challenge people with color and show them that it’s wearable,” says Violette, a self-proclaimed “color student.” First, she changed our minds about blue eye paint, inspiring us to embrace Yves Klein Blue as enthusiastically as the French artist himself, and now she has set her sights on a shade she herself had been dismissing for too long: pink. In fact, the pro is going so far as to propose it as an alternative to the nonchalant red lip that is as synonymous with Gallic fashion as vintage Levi 501s.

“The French aesthetic is so well-known because it’s been the same since forever,” says Violette. “It sounds cliché, but makeup-wise, red lipstick is a true signature. Traditionally, we have never gone with pink because it’s too girly, not spicy enough. I wanted to find a dangerous, badass pink.” In the spirit of subverting traditional ideas of pink, she sought inspiration by sifting through different swathes of vintage fabric. Eventually, she fell in love with a deep fuchsia velvet—and it served as the jumping off point for her new Petal Bouche liquid lip shade Cœur Infidèle, a deep vibrant fuchsia balanced by a blue and yellow base. “It’s the French version of pink lipstick,” says Violette. “It’s mysterious, spicy, irreverent, and chic! It’s not cute, girly, or tender—at all.”